Turkey's Dangerous Ambitions

Erdogan repeated on Dec. 11 that Turkey would not pull out its troops out of Iraq. In response, Iraq appealed to the UN Security Council to demand an immediate withdrawal of all Turkish troops from Iraq, calling Turkey's incursion a "flagrant violation" of international law.

"For centuries, and even since the Mongols, sensible Islam has asked: 'What went wrong? Why has God forsaken us, and allowed others to reach the moon?'" — Professor Norman Stone, prominent expert on Turkish politics.

With the inferiority complex and megalomania still gripping the country's Islamist polity, Erdogan's Islam is not sensible; it is perilous.

It is the same old Middle East story: The Shiite accuse Sunnis of passionately following sectarian policies; Sunnis accuse the Shiite of passionately following sectarian polices; and they are both right. Except that Turkey's pro-Sunni sectarian policies are taking an increasingly perilous turn as they push Turkey into new confrontations, adding newcomers to an already big list of hostile countries.

Take President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent remarks on the centuries-old Shiite-Sunni conflict: they amusingly looked more like a confession than an accusation: "Today we are faced with an absolute sectarianism. Who is doing it? Who are they? Iran and Iraq," Erdogan said.

This is the same Erdogan who once said, "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." Is that not sectarian?

So, with a straight face, the President of one sectarian country (Sunni Turkey) is accusing another country (Shiite Iran and Shiite-dominated Iraq) of being sectarian.

Erdogan went on: "What about the Sunnis? There are Sunni Arabs, Sunni Turkmen and Sunni Kurds [in Iraq and Syria]. What will happen to their security? They want to feel safe."

Never realizing that its ambitions to spread Sunni Islam over large swaths of the Middle East, especially Syria and Iraq, were bigger than its ability to do so, Turkey now finds itself confronting a formidable bloc of pro-Shiite countries: Russia, Iran, Syria, Iraq, and (not to mention the much smaller Lebanon).

Even before the crisis with Russia that began on November 24 -- over Turkey's shooting down a Russian SU-24 along the Turkish-Syrian border -- has shown any sign of de-escalation, another Turkish move had sparked a major dispute with neighboring Iraq.

Just when Turkey moved to reinforce its hundreds of troops at a military camp in Iraq, the Baghdad government gave an ultimatum to Ankara for the removal of all Turkish soldiers stationed in Iraq since last year. Turkey responded by halting its reinforcements. Not enough, the Iraqis apparently think. Iraq's prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, said on December 7 that his country might turn to the UN security council if Turkish troops in northern Iraq were not withdrawn within 48 hours. Hadi al-Ameri, the head of the militant Shiite Badr Organization, threatened that his group would fight Turkish forces if Ankara continued its troop deployment.

Badr Brigade spokesman Karim al-Nuri put the Turkish ambitions in quite a realistic way: "We have the right to respond and we do not exclude any type of response until the Turks have learned their lesson ... Do they have a dream of restoring Ottoman greatness? This is a great delusion and they will pay dearly for Turkish arrogance."

Inevitably, Russia came into the picture. Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said he told the Security Council that Turkey was acting "recklessly and inexplicably" by sending troops across the border into Iraq without the consent of the Iraqi government. According to Russia, the Turkish move "lacks legality."

All that fell on deaf ears in Ankara, as Erdogan repeated on Dec. 11 that Turkey would not pull out its troops from Iraq. In response, Iraq appealed to the UN Security Council to demand an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Turkish troops from northern Iraq, calling Turkey's military incursion a "flagrant violation" of international law.

The next day, Shiite militia members gathered in Baghdad's Tahrir Square to protest against Turkey. Crowds of young men in military fatigues, as well as some Shiite politicians, chanted against Turkish "occupation," vowing they would fight the Turkish troops themselves if they do not withdraw. Angry protesters also burned Turkish flags.

Through its efforts to oust Syria's non-Sunni president, Bashar al-Assad, and build a Muslim Brotherhood-type of Sunni Islamist regime in Damascus, Turkey has become everyone's foe over its eastern and southern borders -- in addition to having to wait anxiously for the next Russian move to hit it -- not knowing where the blow will come from.

The confrontation with Russia has given Moscow an excuse to augment its military deployment in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean, and weaken allied air strikes against Islamic State (IS).

Russia has increased its military assets in the region, including deploying S-400 air and anti-missile defense systems, probably ready to shoot down the first Turkish fighter jet flying over Syrian skies.

Waiting for Turkish-Russian tensions to ease, and trying to avoid a clash between NATO member Turkey and Russia, U.S. officials have quietly put on hold a request for Turkey to more actively to join the allied air missions in Syria against IS. After having lost its access to Syrian soil, Turkey also has been declared militarily non grata in Iraq.

As Professor Norman Stone, a prominent expert on Turkish politics, explained in a recent article: "Erdogan's adventurism has been quite successful so far, but it amounts to an extraordinary departure for Turkish foreign policy, and maybe even risks the destruction of the country. How on earth could this happen? The background is an inferiority complex, and megalomania. For centuries, and even since the Mongols, sensible Islam has asked: 'What went wrong? Why has God forsaken us, and allowed others to reach the moon?'"

With the inferiority complex and megalomania still gripping the country's Islamist polity, Erdogan's Islam is not sensible; it is perilous.

Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

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5 Reader Comments

jeb stuart • Dec 25, 2015 at 07:34

The only reason Turkish troops are in Iraq is because Obama made it possible. Same same the Russians and Iranians that are expanding their military operations.This is about oil and pipelines. In the fossil fuel hating west this may not seem important or a step backwards such we shouldn't even notice.
Russia bombed the Turkish rebels after it was disclosed the Turks were buying oil from the Daesh; Oil the Russians, Iranians and Iraqis have made deals for.All that fighting over Kirkuk this past year and no mention of the importance of the pipeline that was a Russian effort.Chechnya was about oil, Afghanistan, pipelines, Georgia pipelines and the Russian monopoly, after Russia invaded Georgia the Ashkelon oil pipeline deal involving one of the 'Stans, Georgia, Turkey and Israel soured the relationship with Israel. And Turkey became dependent on Russia for 100% of its oil deliveries.
The Ukraine faulted on paying Russia oil revenues.It seems like where ever there is oil interests to be had the new Russian Tsars are allowed to make war, threaten war, and otherwise use coercive measures to impose its imperialistic advantage. Why is Obama the tail on the Russian, Iranian and Assad's donkey?Forgetting the Daesh for a moment, Obama certainly has, considering what he is teaching america what war is, a lot of noise , posturing and "peace" that is as real as Santa Claus. And the pro-Islamists, black supremacists, anti Christian American secularists, atheists among the more vocal back this play like its some sort of panacea for everything from global warming to war. When all they have accomplished it to stoke the fires and enable the oil to flow. Obama's avocation of the Iranian Russian Assad' Syrian triumvirate makes Bush's oil war look pale by comparison.

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ABD • Dec 25, 2015 at 05:03

The Turkish people will pay dearly for the folly of their chosen leaders.

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steven L • Dec 24, 2015 at 17:07

Erdo only/main reason for being in Iraq & Syria is to eliminate the Kurds.

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David Ashton • Dec 24, 2015 at 11:32

With genuine respect for hardworking and friendly individual Turks, it is absolutely imperative that Turkey should not be admitted to the EU and/or given an open invitation to further mass-settlement from Turkey in Europe.

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James Mills • Dec 24, 2015 at 10:39

What has Nato or the European Union got to say about Turkey's aggressive moves? Probably nothing at all, although any escalation of her activities could draw us into the mire. Cameron has of course visited Turkey during 2015 and made speeches of encouragement regarding Turkey's entry into the European Union. What a stupid man he is although not as bad or foolish as Erdogan.